Level 30 Engaged Citizens Part B Learning Plan

Part B Learning Plan 30 – Social Studies, History, Native Studies

This section gives a brief overview of the students’ learning path, inquires students will be doing in class, and the various connections to larger concepts.

Inquiries are identified and connections to Big Ideas are noted. Teachers may begin with any inquiry or combine inquiries to use the approach that resonates best with their students.

The citizenship inquiries incorporate the three perspectives of Social Sciences through exploration of historical and contemporary issues, which in Canada’s case must include Indigenous perspectives. Teachers may choose, however, to explore citizenship considerations specifically through the lens of their respective social science areas.

Inquiry

What does it mean to be an engaged Canadian citizen?

What beliefs do engaged citizens share?
Whose worldviews make up Canadian worldview?

Big Ideas Explored:

Beliefs and worldview shape our views of Canadian citizenship;
There are factors that encourage and inhibit engaged citizenship;
Canadians have processes to address and resolve issues regarding rights and responsibilities as citizens in contemporary Canada;
Canada is challenged to accommodate the needs of diverse populations with competing interests;
Events in Canadian history influenced our current perspectives on rights and responsibilities of citizenship; and,
The evolution of media and technology has impacted perceptions and practices of citizenship.

Inquiry

Why do we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Human Rights Codes, and our Constitution?

How do those documents reflect and influence Canadian beliefs?
Are core Canadian beliefs possible in a multi-cultural society?

Big Ideas Explored:

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Human Rights Legislation, federally and provincially, and the Canadian Constitution are documents that guide Canadian behaviour, policies and practices and form the essential elements of Canadian worldview;
Canadian First Nations and Treaty rights are historical and documented, but often interpreted through worldviews that do not reflect:
the common elements of First Nations knowledge and philosophy that provided the basis for First Nations and Treaty rights;
the impacts of Canada’s expansionism on the interpretation of Canadian First Nations and Treaty rights; and,
the influences of diversity and Canadian multicultural policy.

Questions to Guide Inquiry

Essential questions are posed here to frame the context for student thinking and have students begin thinking about the topic. Answers to essential questions establish a baseline regarding student understanding as they identify the basic knowledge that students have and give teachers an idea of what students will need to learn to explore these outcomes. The essential questions and inquiries incorporate the three perspectives of Social Sciences through exploration of historical and contemporary issues, which in Canada’s case must include Indigenous perspectives. Teachers may choose, however, to explore these citizenship considerations specifically through the lens of their respective social science area.

Teacher Note

Essential questions and guiding questions are posed to support teachers as they facilitate students’ exploration of the inquiry. Teachers are encouraged to adjust the wording, omit, or add questions as they choose.

Essential Questions: Guiding Questions

What are the benefits and limitations of ideology in guiding beliefs and behavior?
- How are a country’s values and beliefs reflected in their approaches to conflict resolution?
  - How are an individual’s values and beliefs reflected in their approaches to conflict resolution?
- What are Canada’s issues of conflict nationally and internationally?
- What is Canada’s record in conflict resolution, nationally and internationally?
How does ideology influence our view of social justice?
- What social justice issues currently impact Canadian society?
- What is the relationship between ideology and action on these issues?
How does a society structure itself to find a balance between the rights of opposing constructs, i.e. minorities and majorities; regions and the nation; individual rights and collective rights; and, what factors influence the finding of this balance?
- How are Canadian views of social justice reflected in our policies and documents that address the issues above?
- How well did Canada do?
How does society achieve a balance between the responsibilities of citizens to society and society’s responsibilities to its citizens?
- What events have had an impact on Canada’s perspectives of citizenship rights and responsibilities?
- How are those impacts evident?
- What responsibility do we as citizens have to our neighbours?
- What responsibility does Canada have to the global community?Surface additional questions that students have.
Has Canadian society been organized to reflect national values and beliefs?
- Whose worldviews are represented in our citizenship behaviours /agreements, locally, nationally and globally?
- What historical influences are evident in our current citizenship behaviours/ agreements, nationally, and globally?

Surface additional questions that students have.

Teacher Note

Citizenship challenges are ongoing. Teachers are challenged to bring current issues into the classroom so that students can make citizenship connections.

CONNECT TO TOPIC AND SURFACE STUDENTS’ THINKING ABOUT …

This section indicates ways to introduce the lesson by engaging students. Inquiries are posted along with possible guiding questions to frame the context for student thinking and encourage students to begin thinking about the topics raised in the inquiry. Vocabulary that needs to be introduced and clarified is noted here. This section may also frame the “We do” portion of the lesson where teachers guide the initial structure of the inquiry.

Teacher Note

Surface student thinking in response to the prompts or hook questions posed.
Add questions from students; adjust the wording of questions as needed.
Chart student thinking for later reflection.

Canadian Citizenship Engagement

This inquiry examines the beliefs, constructs, and influences that shape views of Canadian citizens and the degrees to which policies increase or decrease engagement in citizenship activities. Students will also consider the impact of technology in all aspects of citizenship and mobilization.

Inquiry

What does it mean to be an engaged Canadian citizen?

What beliefs do engaged citizens share?
Whose worldviews make up Canadian worldview?
How do our beliefs and worldviews shape our views of Canadian citizenship?

Choose the questions that resonate best with students.

Learn more

What are the indicators/criteria of engaged citizenship?
How do we know when to get involved?
What are the degrees of engagement necessary to determine whether a society is a democracy?
What are the factors that encourage and inhibit engaged citizenship?
What is the impact of media and technology in the perception and practice of citizenship?

Canadian government is based on principles of:

“Peace, Order, and Good Government”.

What beliefs are reflected in those statements?
What kinds of citizens might it create?
How are the ideological principles in the statement above, reflected in Canadian policy, legislation?
- e. gun control, Canada’s peace-keeping forces, seat belt legislation, cell phone usage legislation, other.

See Further Investigations Suggestions, Part C for comparisons to USA.

DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDING

In inquiry-based learning, the teacher facilitates the activities that lead to the understandings that student make of the inquiry question. It is critical then, that students be allowed to raise questions and talk about issues that develop as they explore the learning activities. This forms the “They do” section of the inquiry where students are finding answers to the overarching questions and then searching for themes and patterns as possible explanations. Teachers work with students to clarify understandings.

Jigsaw Research and Study Process

Have students divide into groups and choose a particular area of study. Each group must find out the information in the questions posed. Encourage students to present information learned in a variety of modes including speaking, writing, drama, multimedia, or other modes so that all students have an entrance point for demonstrating their learning and understanding.

Structured inquiry suggestions are noted here but teachers, familiar with inquiry are free to use the inquiry questions to support students’ exploration of issues of their choosing

This part of the inquiry connects Canada’s actions to an ideology or worldview to consider the kind of citizens and degrees of citizenship engagement each creates. Students examine Canada’s history in treatment of their citizens to see how ideology is reflected in that behaviour.

What are the benefits and limitations of ideology in guiding beliefs and behavior?
- How are a country’s values and beliefs reflected in their approaches to conflict resolution?
What does Canada’s method of conflict resolution, say about its citizenship beliefs?
What are the evolutions of citizenship in Canada?
What kind of Citizen is Canada?

Using the jigsaw research process, have students explore the answers to these questions in the following historical examples or in contemporary conflict issues. What themes are surfacing?

How have these events influenced our perspectives on rights and responsibilities of citizenship?
- BNA Act
- Impacts of Canada’s performance as a nation in WWI or WWII
- Great Depression of 1930’s
- Choose your own
What were the impacts of some of these change events? How did they shape Canada’s history and relationship with its citizens?
- First contact between the Aboriginal peoples and the Europeans
- The Quebec Act
- The Rebellions of 1837
- The resettlement of the Canadian Northwest at the end of the 19th century
- The Quiet Revolution in Quebec. (Unit 1)
- Changes to the Indian Act 1876 – 1968 leading to Bill C-31 1985
- Idle No More Movement

DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDING

For all these inquiries, teachers are encouraged to connect current events to the discussions and ideas being explored.

Inquiry

Why do we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Human Rights Codes, and our Constitution?

How do these documents influence Canadian beliefs?
Are core Canadian beliefs possible in a multicultural society?

Students will:

Examine the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Human Rights Legislation, federally and provincially, and the Canadian Constitution.
Identify
- core beliefs of document
- the history behind each document
- the impact of the document
Gain insight into Canadian Indigenous and Treaty rights by:
- Identifying the common elements of Indigenous knowledge and philosophy that provided the basis for Indigenous and Treaty rights.
- Exploring the factors of diversity and the impact of Canada’s expansionism of the 1800’s that impacted the interpretation of Canadian Indigenous and Treaty rights.
- Comment on the changes in Canada’s relationship with First Peoples during these time periods.
  - Alliance 1600 – 1814
  - Marginalization 1763 – 1923
  - Wardship 1868 – 1969
  - Move toward Self-Governance 1969 – present
  - Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- Examine Canada’s Multicultural policy
  - What has been the impact of Canadian multicultural policies like the Temporary Foreign Worker Program on Canadians?
  - What impact have programs like this had on Canadian beliefs?

APPLY AND EXTEND KNOWLEDGE

This section includes ideas to extend the inquiry or apply concepts explored. This section may also include additional reflective questions to promote student connection to the topic. This forms the “You do” section – extend thinking beyond the classroom discussions and inquiry experiences. Pose additional reflective questions that have been raised to encourage critical and creative thinking.

There are many websites that contain current information on outstanding justice issues. Students could do some research to find an area of interest to them. (See Section C for more ideas.)

Teachers are encouraged to use the Historical Thinking Concepts constructs in exploring any of the inquiries.

Learn more

Consider which responsibilities individuals and groups collectively assume for each other.
- What is needed to act on that responsibility?

Identify some current social, social justice, national justice issues in which students are interested.

What is the current status and impacts of the issues?
What is the history of resolution for the issue?
What themes are surfacing in the history of resolution?
What ideology is reflected in the resolution?
What suggestions do student have as to how they would redress/ try to solve the issue?

When thinking about multiculturalism and raising awareness of the perceptions of different cultures and the effects of inequities, background reading and prior discussion may be needed to prepare the class and some teachers for discussion about privilege, self-awareness, culture, racism, etc. Two websites that provide useful information are:

The Centre for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America: https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/
Robin DiAngelo PhD, Critical Racial and Social Justice Education: https://robindiangelo.com

See also Part C Resources for additional supports

EVIDENCE OF LEARNING

This section suggests ways in which students may demonstrate their understanding. Ideal demonstrations will be in authentic performance tasks. Citizenship studies may have its own smaller assessment piece or be compiled to support one larger performance task assessment. Assessment pieces vary, but should allow students to demonstrate their understanding in a variety of ways.

Have students use the following prompts to connect to and answer any of the essential questions, the enduring understandings, or the inquiry questions to demonstrate their evidence of learning.

What do you think now about…?
What has caused your thinking to change?
What evidence supports your thinking?
Why is this information important to know?
How will you use this information?

Inquiry

What does it mean to be an engaged Canadian citizen?

What beliefs do engaged citizens share?
Whose worldviews make up Canadian worldview?

Inquiry

Why do we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Human Rights Codes, and our Constitution?

How do those documents influence Canadian beliefs?
Are core Canadian beliefs possible in a multicultural society?

Essential Questions: Guiding Questions

What are the benefits and limitations of ideology in guiding beliefs and behavior?
- How are a country’s values and beliefs reflected in their approaches to conflict resolution?
How are an individual’s values and beliefs reflected in their approaches to conflict resolution?
- What are Canada’s issues of conflict nationally and internationally?
- What is Canada’s record in conflict resolution, nationally and internationally?
How does ideology influence our view of social justice?
- What social justice issues currently impact Canadian society?
- What is the relationship between ideology and action on these issues?
How does a society structure itself to find a balance between the rights of opposing constructs, i.e. minorities and majorities; regions and the nation; individual rights and collective rights; and, what factors influence the finding of this balance?
- How are Canadian views of social justice reflected in our policies and documents that address the issues above?
- How well did Canada do?
How does society achieve a balance between the responsibilities of citizens to society and society’s responsibilities to its citizens?
- What events have had an impact on Canada’s perspectives of citizenship rights and responsibilities?
- What responsibility do we as citizens have to our neighbours?
- What responsibility does Canada have to the global community?
Has Canadian society been organized to reflect national values and beliefs?
- Whose worldviews are represented in our citizenship behaviours /agreements, locally, nationally and globally?
- What historical influences are evident in our current citizenship behaviours/ agreements, nationally, and globally?

Enduring Understandings

Injustices of today have roots in the past.
Canadian society is challenged to manage the co-existence of diverse worldviews.
Canadian citizens work to achieve a balance between rights and responsibilities through learning and action.
Canadian society has inequities and elimination of these is beneficial for all Canadians.
For each individual, becoming aware of racism in Canadian society is an evolutionary process and a precursor to change.
As citizens of local, national, and global communities, Canadians are conscious, self-reflective, and critical of their own beliefs and actions and seek to make positive change.
Citizens show flexibility of mind.

STUDENT CITIZENSHIP JOURNAL OPPORTUNITIES

Students will continue to explore their understanding of their role as a Canadian citizen and reflect on their perspective in an Ongoing Journal. Look for opportunities to include video journaling or blogging. Art should be included throughout the journal; some to accompany the journal entry and some that are random drawings and sketching. The journal entries are a record of the student’s thinking and chronicle the student’s changing views of citizenship.

Students are keeping a Citizenship Journal to reflect upon their developing views of citizenship. This section provides prompts for student journals. Students are invited to choose one that interests them or propose their own. Students can also respond to any of the essential questions.

Students are encouraged to respond using a variety of genres.

How strong is Canada’s democracy?
When you come of voting age, will you choose to vote? How did you reach your decision?
What was your greatest surprise in learning that occurred in the inquiries? Why?
Is your Canadian citizenship important to you? Explain your thinking.

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